If the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t caused us enough concern and consternation, the tragic death of George Floyd has certainly brought even more pain and anguish to our lives. On top of that, the recent violent storms have left many of us with damaged homes and still without electrical power. All of these events have disturbed our peace and we all like to live in peace. But, true peace comes only when we humbly bow before God and strive to live in his love. The coronavirus and stormy weather humble us with a reminder that we aren’t in charge of the universe – God is – and that we shouldn’t focus on this world but the next; it’s only there where we find our lasting paradise. And, the death of George Floyd and the protests and wanton destruction that have followed call us to turn back to God who, in his very being, teaches us how we should live: in love and peace with one another. The George Floyd tragedy is just the latest example of the terrible injustice that we find throughout the world today. As terrible as George Floyd’s death is – and it certainly is – it pales in the face of the more than 600,000 infants who are murdered through abortion here in America every year. It pales in the face of the millions of men, women and children here in America and around the world who are forced to live in utter poverty – being paid sub-subsistence wages – so that we can fill our closets with the latest fashions and our refrigerators with any kind of food that we want. I watched the movie on Dr. Gosnell and I’ve visited clothing factories in the Marianna Islands and Indonesia. I’ve also visited the neighborhoods where the workers lived; it was quite disturbing. It is easy to see the injustice in George Floyd’s killing caught on video. But, we shield our eyes from the millions of infants who were ripped from their mothers’ wombs and the millions of people who live in such poverty as a result of our everyday acts of injustice.
In today’s Gospel, we hear our Lord assure us that God did not send him into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him. Our Lord also admonishes us, “Do not judge, lest you be judged.” And, in today’s second reading, we hear St. Paul proclaim, “Mend your ways.” Today’s Feast of the Holy Trinity is a perfect opportunity for us to reflect on this very important teaching of our faith as we celebrate this great mystery of God: his oneness in being as a communion of persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit living in perfect love and true harmony because it teaches us how we should live. In a few minutes we will recite the creed and we will affirm our faith in one God who is three divine persons. The Father is the “maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” The Son is “consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.” And, the Holy Spirit is “the giver of life.”
Despite their differing roles in creation, there is such a perfect relationship within the Trinity that they are fully united in every way – no boundaries or separation except that they are not the same person but three persons in one God, each equal to each other.
That’s a lesson we need to learn and live in the face of the racism we are struggling to address today and the injustices we are part of every day. Just as God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are different but equal, so are we – different but equal. Although we may differ in race or gender or creed, we are all equally human, equally deserving of life and a healthy livelihood.
In celebrating the Trinity, we recall God’s invitation to us to be in a holy relationship with him and with one another. We are reminded that God loves each of us and wills only our good; that this love is so real that Jesus – the Son of God – was actually willing to die for us; and that the Spirit is the loving gift of the Father and Son to us, to remain present among us. The Holy Spirit teaches and reminds us of that Trinitarian love, strengthening and consoling us in times of challenge and trial, and empowering us to be true disciples of our Lord in this troubled world.
So, how do we learn who God is and how we can live as God lives? One very good way is by reading and reflecting on the book that the Guinness World Records reports is still the bestselling book in the world: the Bible. Lots of people buy it; so few read it. The Bible is essentially a love story between God and humanity and, like any good love story, it is filled with intrigue, betrayal, death and, in the end, redemption and the hope of true peace and endless love. It begins with God making us so that he can love us and then, after we had betrayed him through the intrigue of the devil, it unfolds to tell the story about how God, despite all our sins – of which racism is one of the oldest and most insidious – has such great love for us that he is unwilling to leave us in our sinfulness. Moses describes us well when he calls us “a stiff-necked people.” Rather than destroy or abandon us, however, we know that, as today’s Gospel reminds us, he gave us his only Son so that we might be raised from the death of sin and come to share in his life of communal love.
Another very important way that we learn to live as God lives is through sharing our faith with one another. That’s why it’s so important that we come together as a faithful community to worship our God and I’m delighted to see you here, in person. I look forward to the time when all of you who are joining in this celebration remotely will be here, too! Today’s solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity celebrates that life of communal love that we reflect as his family here on earth. For God is one God, in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God, is by his very nature, a communion of persons. In the same way, we are, by the very nature of our humanity, a community of persons.
And, we are called to live in love, just as God lives in love. As we gather around the Table of our Lord, we hear God invite us to relationship with him; to seek more and know more and to open our hearts and minds more to how he reveals himself to us. And, then, we are sent forth to be the sign of God’s love and peace in the world.
Today’s solemnity is actually a triple celebration. We celebrate who God is: a loving communion. We celebrate all that God has revealed to us about himself. And, we, who have been made in the image and likeness of God, learn more about ourselves as we accept the invitation to know him – and ourselves – more, and to find joy and fulfillment in becoming more like God.
I pray that you, who believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, will always allow that same Spirit of God into your lives so that you may strive every day to live more fully the self-sacrificing love that the Son of God showed us while he was in our midst – most clearly demonstrated on the cross, the sign of our faith. That’s how you will find true and lasting peace. And, that’s how we will all help to bring God’s kingdom into this world, a kingdom of justice and peace for all, a kingdom where everyone is afforded the life that God wills for each of us, for we are all God’s children. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.